on this sunday night, bracing for impact. high alert for a massive hurricane on a collision course with a big winter storm. a freak weather phenomenon with 60 million americans caught in the middle, from the eastern seaboard all the way to the great lakes. tonight evacuations are under way across several states as new york city prepares for a near total shutdown. the presidential race thrown for a loop. both campaigns sent scrambling just nine days before the election. our teams in place, we're tracking this monster storm and nightly news begins now.

good evening. the evening is howling and just over my shoulder the broiling chesapeake bay showing the power of hurricane sandy that's tracking towards us far off the coast. but it's landfall that has scientists using megastorm, a surprising link up between two massive storms, impacting up to 60 mlion people. you have to see what it looks like from space to really appreciate the size of the storm. it's simply a swirling right mass up and down across. people are heeding the urgent warnings especially in coastal regions. tonight people are under mandatory evacuation orders. new york city city and

philadelphia are also preparing to shut down mass transit. our team is spread all along the mid-atlantic coast with the latest on the storm and its impact. we want to begin with the weather channel's jim cantore on the tip of lower manhattan. >> reporter: where i'm standing in about 24 hours, there's a very good chance i'll be standing here in waist-high water, if i were still standing here and i won't be. here it is on satellite as you mentioned, just a huge cloud canopy, currently about 523 miles to the south of new york city, there's a very low pressure to this so to the wind field is 900 miles wide this. s-path that we have seen for the past several days, brings the center within 100 miles of the the city. four to eight inches possible,

the jersey shore, the south shore of long island. then six to 11 feet, this is what prompted the evacuation orders from the mayor of new york city. new york harbor on theorth shore of long island dealing with six to 11 feet. the national weather in new york says this will be the highest storm surge ever in new york city, that's what they are predicting at the national weather service so far. look at the rainfall, we're up from last night. locally a foot in new jersey. the biggest difference this year is stream flows across pennsylvania and new york are much lower so we may save a few from flooding but it's inevitable that we will sigh flash flooding in many, many places. and crippling snowfall in parts of virginia. all of these elements coming together for massive power outages, some 60 mill brion peo affected, we are iing 10

million to lose power from this megastorm. >> some remarkable numbers there, jim, thank you. all day sandy has been lashing north carolina's outer banks. julie martin is in nags head for us tonight. julie? >> reporter: we have been taking a beating all day long here along the outer banks, the tropical storm force wind gusts started around midnight and they really haven't let up, that plus the stinging rain showers coming in has made for a miserable existence all along the outer banks, and sandy is well offshore a couple of hundred miles is a testment to the size and strength of this storm. many are chosen to stay and ride this house. nonetheless, they have had their share of problems with this, we have seen flooded roadways, highway 95 completely impassable

due to coastal flooding, and we have seen some power outages with that as well. back to you, lester. >> julie martin on north carolina's outer bank. >> let's move up the coast to nbc's tom strong, he's been feeling sandy's bite and we hope it beats delaware. >> reporter: time is running out for folks who are under a mandatory evacuation under in coastal delaware. right now we're getting hit with some pretty strong winds and rain and take a look at the wave action, we're expecting wind gusts of up to 60-mile-per-hour, storm surges between 4 to 8 feet and up to eight inches of rain. coastal flood warnings and watches are in effect and all day residents have been streaming out of town. businesses are shut down and boarded up and this popular beach town is boarded up as sandy gets closer. >> tonight time is quickly

running out for those in the path to prepare and they're likely to find the shelves sold out if the store is even open. >> reporter: good evening to you, lester, the beach here is almost completely gone. the waves have been building all day at eight to ten feet, the winds are gustsing to 35 miles an hour, where the situation is getting very dangerous. that's why this and so many other areas around the coast have been evacuated for the most part. also president obama added his voice to all the warnings to take this storm very seriously. >> this is a serious and baying storm. and my first message is to all people across the eastern seaboard, the mid-atlantic going north that you need to take this very seriously. and follow the instructions of your state, and local officials, because they are going to be

providing you with the best advice in terms of how to deal with this storm over the coming days. >> reporter: the awesome power of hurricane sandy churning up the atlantic drew people to the coastal beaches for one last look. thousands heeded the warnings and headed to safety. while police in island towns like point pleasant beach went door to door enforcing a mandatory evacuation order. >> we lucked out with irene, and this may be worse, it's scary. >> reporter: in atlantic city, the last minute rush to board up the gambling mecca, which now looks like a ghost town. along the east coast from delaware to connecticut, hundreds of thousands after people live in mandatory evacuation areas. more than 370,000 alone in new york city. where the entire transit system,

trains, busses and subways shut down tonight. further inland in nrnl new jersey some race to open reservoirs and rivers hoping to avoid what's expected to be major flooding. local leaders have been plenty. >> we need you to act puntly. >> reporter: electrical crews plan to work all night and help is on the way, utility workers as for as way . with the weather getting so bad, authorities say the best advise is to just stay at home, that's probably going to be the safest place, a lot of schools and businesses up and down the coast are going to be closeded tomorrow and probably for a few days to come, because the storm

as you know is not going anywhere for quite a while. lester? >> ron allen on the new mexijer coast tonight, as we said energy is preparing for the total shutdown of mass transit areas. crews are going door to door urging people to get to safety. >> reporter: this is a mandatory evacuation, not only in lower manhattan, but in other areas of the city. areas like queens, staten island, as shown in yellow on the map. they could see storm surges anywhere between 6 and 12 feet. many of those residents spent the day today packing up and heading to safer areas of the city or out of the city all together. some are still opting to stay tonight, that is of great concern for new york's mayor

michael bloomberg, his biggest fear is that people will not leave and emergency workers will potentially lose their lives trying to rescue them, some 76 evacuation centers have been set up in the area and, lester, the water behind me, if those storm surges as predicted could be as high as my knees or waist. >> there are also evacuations for low-lying areas along the connecticut coast. katie turr is on the beach in fairfield for us tonight. katie, good evening. >> reporter: and lester, the wind has been picking up pretty steadily off long island sound all evening. no rain as of yet has, expected until tomorrow. people here in fairfield are hearing take heed, they are --

not to mention the hundreds of thousands in this state who are without power for days on end. yes, there are mandatory evacuations here in fairfield and other low lying coastal areas but people said they would have left anyway. they could not stay here any longer. the mayor has mandatory evacuation for fairfield and along the coast. and lester, they are hoping here that they're only having to prepare for the worst not having to repair because of it. the good news is that people are heeding those mandatory evacuation orders. >> katikatie, and this storm is having a major effect on travel across much of the country. amtrak has cancelled service all across the northern corridor

tomorrow. there is also closures at reagan national in d.c. >> reporter: this airport is already starting to clear out. system wide we have already got 7,000 fright cancellations, today. tomorrow and the next day. we have already got significant delays at philadelphia and new york, delays up to two hours and the cancellations have already begun. at washington's reagan national this this afternoon airlines are tonight pulling their planes out of harm's way, suspendsing or limiting operations until the storm passes on tuesday. 1,200 flights cancelled today with newark the most affected. more than 4,500 flights affected monday. again 7,000 nationwide.

go to flight air.com. that's going to start to empty out very quickly and tomorrow this will look like open skies, back to you. >> tom costello with the transportation angle tonight for you. still ahead as nbc nightly news continues, hurricane sandy, an october surprise leaving both presidential campaigns scrambling, nine days until the election, and nowhere is that more evidence than here in virginia. a critical swing state now even more up in the air. we'll be back. for many, nexium helps relieve

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some folks riding the waves here along the virginia beach. the storm surge now moving in this area. this monster storm is an october surprise, the likes of which we have never seen before, the closing days of a presidential race, it's already having an affect on both sides. peter alexander is traveling with the romney campaign tonight. he's in marion, ohio. peter good evening. >> reporter: the storm has already shaken up this race between the candidates, the running mates and their wives,

more than a dozen events have been cancelled. in the campaign's waning days, president obama is forced to juggle dual responsibilities, ensuring to the nation's readiness for hurricane sandy while campaigning. asked if it would affect early morning. >> we don't anticipate that at this point. >> reporter: the storm is already having an impact on some early voting, a key to success for many campaigns. both campaigns today announce halting- >> i know that right now some people in the country are a little nervous about a storm about to hit the coast and our

thought and prayers are with the people who will find themselveses in harm's way. >> meanwhile both campaigns are touting a string of endosment. >> reporter: and governor romney is scheduled to arrive at this event in marion ohio. the president is already en route to florida, that's a day earlier than planned, so he can be present for an event scheduled for tomorrow. >> peter thanks. we had planned to be here in virginia all along as part of our continuing tour of battleground key states in this election. this storm did not figure into anyone's election plans b u it is adding drama in states both candidates need badly to win. with virginia and it's 13 electoral votes very much in play, the storm threatens to knock both campaigns off their game plan, the candidates have cancelled their appearances here

and officials are already considering the impact of power outages possibly lasting through election day. >> our goal right now is to make sure that no one is disenfranchised or denied their ability to vote because of the weather so we have moved up to the very top of the list, the restore ration of power for voting precincts. >> virginia is a traditionally important prize. in 2008, barack obama defied gravity and claimed victory here, it's now anyone's to win. >> virginia has bounced back and forth, back and forth so when you're trying to make your original calculations as to how many electoral votes i'm going to need, virginia is always the one that i'm going to steal from the other candidate. >> this college student worries

about her prospects after graduation. >> i know in the debate, i know another college student talked about how he's going to get a job after the election. >> i felt like they were dancing around it. >> the 2008 obama victory in virginia may have already -- to it's sprawling military bases, so it's growing ethnic communities especially latinos around richmond. >> when i came in '98, i rarely run into a latino. >> mario dawson and his family came here from el salvador and run a bakery, he's undecided but immigration tops his concerns. >> just to become a citizen, for me, it took about 14 years. >> both sides have deployed armies of volunteers and high profile surrogates to virginia

to target the state's diverse voting groups. the buzz word for both sides here is ground game. both sides have been counting on early voting to improve their chances that could be most immediately affected by this storm. we're back in a moment for the big scare today for a lot of folks on the other coast. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain

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recede two feet. that's huge. >> reporter: this morning it was downgraded to an advisory after several small waves came ashore. >> the water is still dangerous t beaches still need caution. but we can go home. >> can you believe that? >> the 7.7 quake responsible for the tsunami warning was centered near prince rupert in british columbia. millions were told to beware of surging tides. >> the tsunami warnings are incredibly important because you don't want to be in a position that you didn't give a warning and it happens. >> reporter: a pair of 3.9 quakes pulled people out of bed, an area used to a little shaking. >> we're back in a moment with the projected path of this monster hurricane, why it's

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the waves churned up here along the chesapeake bay bridge in virginia beach. we're back with a final check on the path of hurricane sandy. weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is? virginia beach, new jersey tonight, where the wind is whipping up. where can we expect the storm to moving in the next few days? >> reporter: the atlantic now taking over the entire beach here at point pleasant. this morning's high tide was up to there. and lester tomorrow we have two disastrous high tides. by tuesday, this entire coastline is going to be rearranged. take a look at the swirl off cape hatteras, we're still more than 500 miles away from the storm, that winter like jet stream is juicing the storm,

that's why we have a blizzard warning on the backside of a hurricane, this is going to take a left jab, an ali jab on new jersey. surge will be at record levels in some spots. >> mike seidel for us tonight. thank you. and that is nbc nightlily news for us this evening. stay us for continuing coverage and full coverage tomorrow morning. coming up next football night in america. followed by monday night football t saints and the broncos. i'm lester holt reporting tonight from the beach. from all of us here at nbc news, don't. anncr: seven-hundred-thousand jobs.

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